How Do I Sell A Marina?

Rick Roughen of Keller Williams Commercial Real Estate in Boca Raton, FL has been a part of hundreds of Marina and Maritime business real estate transactions. Read below for a step-by-step walk through of what to expect and what to look our for.

Go It Alone or GET HELP?

You can attempt to sell your marina by yourself or you can hire a specialized marina broker to sell your marina the right way.  Many who say, “I want to sell my marina” in Florida are happy to learn there are many buyers with a lot of money right now and that a lot of money is available through the banks to finance marinas in Florida. Investors like to buy and loan in Florida because marinas are profitable in most cases and because marinas are reliable as investments (this applies to many other regions as well).  Many marinas have diversified income streams which add to value and make it easier to sell marinas for a strong value.  If diversified income streams all work together and produce more income for a marina then the value of that marina will be higher than others who only provide boat storage, boat sales, boat service, parts sales, boat brokerage, a ships’ store, boat fuel and boat haul and launch operations.  Florida marinas are very valuable because they are open for business all year long and because being open all year provides perpetual water-related activities that continue throughout the entire year.

1. Get Help

The first step to selling a marina is to choose a very capable and educated marina broker in Florida who you can trust.  Make sure he has worn your boots as a marina owner-operator and that he has fought your daily battles so you can be sure he understands the marina business and that he knows how it operates.  Find the most experienced marina broker, boatyard broker, or shipyard broker who has knowledge of the marina industry and who currently has marinas for sale so you can see how they will advertise your marina property.  An expert marina broker in Florida will help you analyze your marina, value your marina and prepare an effective package to sell your marina so that your marina buyers will be attracted to your facility and so they will want to visit and see how the operations are conducted.

2. Sign an Confidentiality Agreement

The next step is to sign an NDA (Confidentiality / Non-disclosure Agreement) with your broker so you have assurance that he or she will not discuss your business intentions or its sensitive information with anybody.  Once that is done, the Seller should provide a current set of financial statements so the broker can review and begin to ask questions for understanding and for verification so that adjustments can be made that will maximize each and every possible opportunity to rightly justify a maximum price for your marina or boatyard.  That is how to sell your marina for the highest price.

3.Create the Plan

The next step is for your expert marina broker to visit your marina to see first-hand all of the attributes that will help to justify the value of your marina and ultimately to sell your marina or to sell your boatyard for the highest possible price.  Only an expert marina broker will be able to do this for you in such a way that it will get you the highest possible price and the best value.  Your marina is unique, and it has value that has to be maximized as it relates to the price you will ask.  So long as you are able to defend your value proposition and explain with clarity how you reach the price you are asking, then buyers will have to respect that and make offers that will likely be closer to what the final price should be.

With these basic analysis tools and first-hand knowledge of your marina facility and its financials attributes, it will be time to build an outstanding package that will showcase your facility so that marina buyers will understand the physicality of your marina and how it is laid out as well as the financial attributes which will operate to defend your selling price.  The Offering Package for your marina should be spectacular in all of its attempt to provide clear evidence of the unique marina or unique boatyard that you are selling.  Buyers will take the time to review that document so they don’t waste their time or yours in determining whether or not to make an offer to purchase your marina or to purchase your boatyard.

4. Be Available

The next steps in this summarized explanation about How to Sell a Marina involve all of the interpersonal skills that your expert marina broker should employ on your behalf.  He should be quick to respond to inquiries from your marina buyers, he should be ready to answer any and all questions about your marina or boatyard, he should work hard to defend the price that was researched and agreed upon which has defensible logic to support the number and he should walk the marina buyer or boatyard buyer through your facility to show all of the unique aspects that provide value beyond the actual asking price. 

Once the Buyer is ready to go, the final stage requires that your expert marina broker complete a Purchase and Sale Agreement and work with the Marina Buyer or Boatyard Buyer to make a signed offer to Purchase your marina.  There will be some back and forth but ultimately since you will have prepared your marina and your strategy to sell your marina with the assistance of your expert marina broker, the sale will be completed and you will have obtained the value you worked so hard to create.

Like any complex transaction, take all the help you can get.

The process of selling a marina can have a lot of moving parts. Experience in the ins and outs or maritime real estate transactions can make all of the difference when it comes to achieving a fair price for your marina. Talk to a pro to learn about your options!.

Rick is a uniquely qualified Commercial Maritime Broker. He brings genuine knowledge and experience earned from decades of direct involvement in the Marine Industry. As a Shipyard Operator, as a Financial Officer, and as a Boat Dealership Owner who has been responsible for high-level financial reporting for some of the largest and most robust marine facilities in the world, Rick brings exceptional knowledge and understanding to his clientele. His team will be proud to serve your interests with urgency and with professionalism.